Saturday, September 27, 2008

ALONSO CONCERNS OVER CIRCUIT

ALONSO CONCERNS OVER CIRCUIT

Alonso - first day gone well.

Fernando Alonso declared himself satisfied after topping the timesheets in the second free practice session ahead of the inaugural night race in Singapore this weekend.

The Renault driver left it late to produce a scintillating lap and clock a time of one minute 45.654 seconds to edge championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 0.098secs.

McLaren's Hamilton, who came out on top in first practice earlier in the evening, had led for the majority of practice until Alonso took charge.

However, practice was not without its problems for the Spaniard, who found the circuit challenging while conceding some areas were not as well lit as others.

"The first day of work has gone well," he said. "The circuit is interesting, very bumpy in places, especially into turn number seven and we have to keep an eye on that because it can become a problem.

"In terms of the lighting, when I walked the track I was impressed but behind the wheel at 300km per hour, some parts of the track are a bit dark.

"Despite that this is an amazing opportunity for the spectators to attend a night race and I am satisfied with my day."

Pat Symonds, executive director of engineering at Renault, felt the Singapore circuit surpassed his expectations and believes it is a positive step forward for Formula One.

"It is always exciting to come to a new track and the spectacle in Singapore is even better than I imagined," he said.

"It is a really exciting new era for Formula One and I would like to congratulate all of those who made it possible.

"Our cars and drivers seemed to be pretty competitive this evening so let's see what tomorrow brings us."

The circuit took its first casualty in first practice when Red Bull's Mark Webber ploughed into a barrier at Turn 18 on only his fourth lap.

But the Australian claimed the setback has provided him with some valuable information on the circuit ahead of the weekend.

"It's a nice track, they've done a good job with it," said Webber. "My first session was much too short, as I got into the little chicane a bit too hot and hit the wall. I should have gone down the escape road, but hindsight is a great thing.

"Even though we lost a lot of track time, I feel we've made a reasonable recovery. There's still quite a bit of work to do, but at least I've now got a good idea about the circuit. Running at night seems okay, but I might make a few tweaks to my visor and tear-offs."



  • TRULLI’S SINGAPORE CONCERNS
  • ALONSO: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
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